{"id":13315,"date":"2017-09-13T11:26:51","date_gmt":"2017-09-13T10:26:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/unitelive.org\/?p=13315"},"modified":"2017-09-13T11:26:51","modified_gmt":"2017-09-13T10:26:51","slug":"stark-reminder","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/?p=13315","title":{"rendered":"Stark reminder"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Unite delegate and construction worker Andy Jones yesterday (September 12)\u00c2\u00a0addressed TUC conference on climate change.<\/p>\n

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\u00e2\u20ac\u015bConference, there is an old saying that you may not be interested in politics, but politics is interested in you,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 said Andy Jones.<\/p>\n

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\u00e2\u20ac\u015bThe same is true of our climate. That is a lesson Donald Trump is learning the hard way \u00e2\u20ac\u201c at horrific cost to the American people,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 he added.<\/p>\n

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It is only four months since Trump announced that the US would pull out of the Paris Agreement.<\/p>\n

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However as TUC takes place hundreds of thousands of people across Florida, Texas and the Caribbean are rushing to take shelter or reclaiming their lives from the wreckage.<\/p>\n

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\u00e2\u20ac\u015bThese disasters show that it is always our people \u00e2\u20ac\u201c working class people \u00e2\u20ac\u201c who are forced to pay the price for government inaction,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 said Jones.<\/p>\n

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It is only right that the trade union movement must play a central role in meeting the climate challenge.<\/p>\n

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\u00e2\u20ac\u015bThat means democratic control over our rigged energy system, an environmental rep in every workplace and having trade unions in the driving seat to support our members in a \u00e2\u20ac\u0098just transition\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 to high skilled, low carbon jobs,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 Jones added.<\/p>\n

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Jones went on to say that no one must be left behind and every part of the trade union movement has its role to play – including energy and transport.<\/p>\n

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\u00e2\u20ac\u015bWe note the reference to moving more freight to rail which must recognise that road still has a part to play in a proper strategy,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 he added.<\/p>\n

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Jones used his own sector, construction as an example.<\/p>\n

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\u00e2\u20ac\u015bThis motion proposes a public works programme for the mass retrofitting of insulation for our homes and public buildings,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 he said.<\/p>\n

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This would be a positive step and an economic shot in the arm \u00e2\u20ac\u201c creating thousands of jobs in the low carbon economy.<\/p>\n

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\u00e2\u20ac\u015bBut conference, the Grenfell tragedy and the scores of tower blocks which failed safety tests in its wake serves as a stark reminder,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 said Jones.<\/p>\n

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\u00e2\u20ac\u015bWe will not accept cut corners and we will not put private profit over public safety,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 he added.<\/p>\n

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Such a programme must be safe and it must be public \u00e2\u20ac\u201c involving workers and residents together.<\/p>\n

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\u00e2\u20ac\u015bAny initiative must be the start of an ambitious long-term industrial strategy which invests in a balanced energy policy, creates secure jobs and invests in reskilling workers,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 he said.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The motion was passed.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Unite delegate and construction worker Andy Jones yesterday (September 12)\u00c2\u00a0addressed TUC conference on climate change.   \u00e2\u20ac\u015bConference, there is an old saying that you may not be interested in politics, but politics is interested in you,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 said Andy Jones.   \u00e2\u20ac\u015bThe same is true of our climate. That is a lesson Donald Trump is learning […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":13378,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[588,746,792],"wps_subtitle":"We will not accept private profit over public safety","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13315"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=13315"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13315\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13380,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13315\/revisions\/13380"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/13378"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=13315"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=13315"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=13315"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}